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Fabbricad’ArmiPietroBeretta S.p.A.–Fifteen Generations of the Beretta Family dating back to 1526

The company is part of the Beretta Holding Group. Controlled by the BERETTA family, the group encompasses key manufacturers of field and competition firearms and optics, as well as trading and distribution companies in Italy and abroad, with a total work force of 2,603 employees and an annual turnover of 435.7 million Euro. The oldest among them, Fabbricad’ArmiPietroBeretta S.p.A. (PietroBeretta arms manufacturing company), which has been handed down over fifteen generations, was active in the village of Gardone Val Trompia in the fifteenth century. Documentary evidence for the family business dates back to 1526.

From the legendary Bartolomeo (ca. 1498 to 1565/8) to Pietro (1791 to 1853), who was the first in the family to begin expansion of the business, to his son Giuseppe (1840-1903), who supervised the transition from national to international horizons, to Pietro (1870-1957), who was able to transform the artisan business into a manufacturing concern by introducing modern production techniques, to his sons Giuseppe (1906-1993) and Carlo (1908-1984), who gave the firm its multinational character, leading the Company to success in the military and commercial markets, Beretta has always produced firearms.

Almost 500 years of working activity have enriched Beretta with enormous experience and knowledge in precision mechanics in the field of portable firearms. From the turn of the 20th century up to today Beretta’s production facilities have grown from 10,000 to over 76,000 square meters. The production departments feature fully automated work centres and of course highly qualified craftsmen, a prerequisite for achieving the desired degree of accuracy and standard of quality. The design department has advanced systems for carrying out stress analysis using the finite elements method. The laboratories are equipped to carry out research into dynamics with a high stress variation rate applied to the ammunition-firearm system, metallographic tests and fatigue tests.

Production and Design work together with Marketing and Sales to develop new products and meet the customers’ changing requirements. Marketing and Sales also use modern information systems to provide the maximum backup for the peripheral organizations and to meet market requirements promptly.

Beretta production (about 1,500 pieces a day) covers almost the whole range of portable firearms: over-and-under and side-by-side shotguns for hunting and competition in different grades of finishing, autoloaders and pump action guns, express double rifles, semiautomatic pistols (chambered for calibers from .22 Short to .45 Auto), assault rifles. An estimated 90% of Beretta’s production consists of sporting firearms, with more than 75% of arms produced being exported to almost 100 countries.

In the early 1990s, Beretta added to its traditional sporting guns production, a complete range of accessories and apparel for hunting, clay shooting and outdoor sports which rapidly earned a reputation for its technological content and understated elegance. The first Beretta Gallery was inaugurated in New York in 1995, followed in quick succession by ones in Dallas, Buenos Aires, Paris and Milan. In December 2005 a new Beretta Gallery in the centre of London was opened.

The Beretta Clothing & Accessories line is sold in leading gun shops in Europe and America, and also through the Shop in Shop chain, specialized outlets designed specifically to accommodate exclusive areas selling Beretta products. In 2007 the 97 Beretta Shop in Shops worldwide are flanked by approx. 800 sales outlets with corners and display areas featuring Beretta products. The 2007 turnover of the Beretta Clothing & Accessories division topped approx. 26 million Euro.

Beretta supplies firearms to the Armed Forces and Police Forces of Italy and numerous other countries since many years. Recently (April 2007) a contract to supply the pistol model Px4 Storm to the Canada Borders Services Agency was signed.

The greatest success story regarding pistols is the fact that the American Armed Forces and State Police Forces have adopted Beretta 92 series pistols. France’s GendarmerieNationale and the “Armée de l’Air” (French Air Force) have also opted for this solution.

In 2002 an agreement was signed for the supply of 45,000 92FS pistols for the Spanish Guardia Civil. The same year, about 40,000 - 92 series pistols were also supplied to the Turkish Police Force. More recently a new contract for 18,744 - 92 FS pistols to the US Air Force was clinched. In September 2007 another contract to provide 10,576 series 92 pistols to the US Army and to the US Navy was signed. www.beretta.com